In Our Daughters' Eyes
by darveyscactus
Summary: Donna and Harvey become parents to identical twin daughters and watch them grow up.


**Back during the 8b-9 hiatus, I got thinking about Harvey and Donna's children when they're older, and then this happened. It's written entirely without dialogue, which is a new format for me, but I hope you enjoy this sweet little story about the Paulsen Specters over the years. **

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It had taken three rounds of IVF and one miscarriage, but Donna had finally gotten pregnant, and at their twelve week ultrasound, they saw that she was carrying twins. When the doctor told them the news, Harvey saw Donna's eyes widen as a small look of panic crossed her face. He knew she was looking at the next eighteen years of their lives; two babies, two toddlers, two middle schoolers, and one day, two kids off to college at the same time. As the doctor continued to show them their babies on the ultrasound screen, he reached over and gave her hand a squeeze to reassure her that they'd get through this together.

As anxious as Donna was about the twins, Harvey was relieved. He was scared shitless at the possibility of messing up two kids at the same time, but he was so relieved they were getting two at once. He knew that Donna wanted two kids but after nearly a year of doctors appointments, hormone treatments, and needles to her back, Harvey didn't know if he could do it all again.

His heart broke for her every time she wasn't pregnant - when she got her period and she'd sob into his arms on the floor of their bathroom. The day she miscarried was the worst of his life. She'd texted him from the bathroom at the firm and he rushed to her side. He found her sitting on the floor leaning against the wall, face twisted in pain with tears streaming down her cheeks, traces of blood down her thighs, and he just knew. Knew that the little blip they'd seen on the ultrasound screen just days before was gone. He felt so powerless in those moments because the one thing they both desperately wanted, something that should have been so easy, was just out of their reach.

When the delivery nurse placed her babies in her arms and she held them against her chest, the tears came instantly. She looked down at the faces of her two little girls, her two perfect rainbow babies - with their identical button noses, dark eyes like their dad's looking up at her, and little tufts of red hair covering the tops of their heads. Harvey wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head and, when their eyes locked, it all made sense. Everything it'd taken them to get to this moment had been worth it. In unspoken words, they promised each other, and the babies in her arms, that they would love their children as fiercely as they were able, because they knew that the best things in life were often worth the wait.

Donna hadn't let them discuss baby names until she was sure there'd be a baby, telling Harvey she didn't want to tempt fate. But he knew she'd thought of names for the baby they'd lost. He saw them excitedly scribbled on a post-it stuck in the front pages of her planner - Elizabeth Claire for a girl and James Gordon for a boy. The fact that she miscarried before they knew the gender meant they mourned the loss of the possibility of both. When the time came, though, choosing names was harder than either anticipated. There were so many people in their lives they wanted to pay homage to - Mike, Rachel, Jessica, Louis, their parents - but they quickly realized that with just two children, it was nearly impossible to honor everybody.

After two days of the hospital nurses reminding them they couldn't call their daughters Baby Girl Paulsen Specter 1 and Baby Girl Paulsen Specter 2 for the rest of their lives, they finally decided on names. Baby Girl 1 became Amelia Faith - Amelia because Harvey's mom had always said that if she'd had a daughter that's what she'd name her, and Faith because that was how they'd expressed their love for each other before they could fully put it into words. Baby Girl 2, born eleven minutes later, became Vivian Rose - Rose for Mike Ross and Rachel Zane Ross, and Vivian for Donna's grandmother.

From the moment she found out she was carrying twins, Donna promised herself she'd let them grow up independently of one another; there'd be no matching outfits or rhyming names. Her college roommate had been a twin, and she never wanted her children to feel like they were interchangeable with their sibling. She wanted two individuals, not two carbon copies.

As newborns, they looked more identical than Donna and Harvey had thought possible, and matching outfits turned out to be the exact opposite of what was needed to tell them apart. For the first several weeks of their lives, Vivian was dressed exclusively in dark colors, and Amelia wore only light colors while Harvey and Donna examined them for distinguishing characteristics. Eventually, Donna discovered that Amelia had a birthmark on the inside of her left ear, and Harvey found one on the back of Vivian's right knee. As they grew up, Vivian's eyes darkened more than Amelia's and Amelia's hair was lighter. They continually found their own distinguishing features and absolutely hated when people mixed them up, because to anyone who really knew them, they were entirely different.

Their faces might have been mirror images but, Harvey and Donna quickly learned, their personalities were anything but. Amelia was fussy and clingy, but hardly ever screamed. Vivian was the exact opposite - she could be completely docile one minute, and screaming like the house was on fire the next, and for no apparent reason. The first time this happened, they'd spent nearly twelve hours trying to soothe her, passing her back and forth between the two of them - rocking her, walking around with her, dancing with her - everything the parenting blogs and books said would soothe a distressed newborn. Finally, both on the verge of tears themselves, they accepted defeat and laid her back down in the bassinet next to Amelia who, remarkably, had slept through nearly the entire outburst. In less than five minutes, the wailing tears reduced to soft whimpers as she cuddled into her sister and in another five, they were both fast asleep.

They were little perfectionists, which both pleased and agitated their parents in equal measure, but they were different types of perfectionists. As they grew up, Amelia would do something over and over again until she deemed it perfect, while Vivian would shy away from things that didn't come easy to her in fear of failure. When Donna enrolled the two of them in their first ballet class when they were four, Amelia practiced for hours on end using the kitchen chairs as a ballet barre while Vivian left each class in frustrated tears as she saw something that came almost naturally to her sister, but was challenging for her.

Vivian was restless, and bounced around from one activity to the next while Amelia returned to ballet class year after year, having found a place where her quiet, disciplined nature could thrive. On a whim, Harvey took Vivian boxing with him when she was nine and to his utter surprise, she absolutely loved it. When he and Donna talked about it though, it made sense. There was so much energy bouncing around her tiny body and she didn't have anywhere to put it; boxing gave her an outlet for all of that.

Donna loved getting out of the house and exploring the city with the twins on the weekends. Despite having lived there for most of her life, she saw the city in a new way through their eyes. Central Park quickly became a family favorite - in the summer, Vivian and Amelia loved to splash around in the water features around the fountains and were entranced by the various performers always filling the park. They loved the Alice in Wonderland statue and, on crisp early fall days, they'd pack a picnic and spend the afternoon enjoying the changing leaves. More often than not, the day ended with Harvey chasing the girls around through the piles of leaves and, until they got too big, letting them climb all over him and carrying them around on his back. When this happened, Donna would roll her eyes and pretend to be annoyed at their roughhousing, but he knew she enjoyed watching them have fun together - especially when it tired the twins out and had them in bed earlier than usual, leaving their nights free for _other _activities.

The twins loved the park in the winter too, making snowmen and playing around with their dad much like they'd do in the fall. For Donna though, the best part of winter in Central Park was the ice rink that'd appear. Growing up, her favorite part of the holidays was visiting her cousins and skating on the outdoor rink set up in the center of town. She loved that Vivian and Amelia took to skating like ducks to water and the three of them would zoom around the perimeter of the rink hand in hand as Harvey clutched onto the boards for dear life, fighting to keep his balance.

As they got older, Harvey and Donna both made an effort to develop traditions and memories with both Vivian and Amelia separately. Aside from boxing, Harvey and Vivian loved exploring the Museum of Natural History together. They'd play I Spy as they wandered through the various exhibits, and the trips always ended with them splitting a giant chocolate chip cookie from Levain Bakery just a few blocks away. As she got older, Vivian would drag him to special exhibits that popped up across the city. He told her that he drew the line at anything that involved art or theatre, which she was perfectly fine with - she was far more interested in history and current events, anyways.

Despite numerous attempts, he was never able to get either of the twins that interested in baseball. They'd watch an occasional game with him on the couch on a lazy Saturday afternoon, and their Fathers' Day gift to him was always tickets to a Yankees game, but they did those things because they knew he loved them, and they loved spending time with him. Realizing that sports were especially a lost cause with Amelia, he celebrated her second ever ballet recital by taking her to her first New York City Ballet performance. It was a matinee performance of Sleeping Beauty and they sat in the second row. He spent the entire show watching not the dancers on the stage but his daughter, and the look of complete wonder that stayed on her face for the duration of the performance. He lived to see his girls happy and if a couple hours of ballet was what it took to see that look of joy in her eyes, he'd do it a hundred times. When they got home that evening, Amelia talked a mile a minute recounting what she'd seen and Donna was astounded - not just at the amount of passion pouring out of the tiny six year old in front of her, but that Harvey had taken her, and thought of the idea all on his own.

When Donna was pregnant, they bought a townhouse on the Upper West Side, saying goodbye to the one they'd rented in Gramercy for the first years of their marriage. Several years after the twins were born, they found themselves hosting Thanksgiving for both their families each year. Donna's mom would arrive the day before and Harvey would get Vivian and Amelia out of the house so they could prepare for the following day with minimal commotion. He'd take them to see the balloons being blown up for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade the next day, and every year they'd turn it into a game. Vivian and Amelia would pick their favorite balloon and whoever's balloon appeared first the next day when they were watching the parade got a piece of pumpkin pie that was just slightly bigger than the other.

Harvey loved any opportunity he got to spend time with his daughters, but if he had to choose a favorite, it'd be the day each year he took Vivian and Amelia shopping for Donna's Chistmas presents. He started the tradition with them when they were six, but it meant so much to him that he insisted they continue it well into adulthood - a request that the twins happily complied with, because they always enjoyed the day just as much as he did. As the girls got older, they picked up on the fact that he got nervous shopping for their mom, and he relied on them to make sure he got something she'd enjoy. When they were twelve, Vivian told him he didn't need their help because she always loved what he got her - not just because of the gift itself, but because it came from him. Amelia agreed, saying she always opened his gift last, and everyone knew that the gift you save for the end is the one that you're most excited for.

Even though Harvey stole her thunder and took her to her first ballet, Donna was adamant about turning Amelia into a little theatre nerd. They went to everything from small off-Broadway plays to musicals and, when she was old enough, Shakespeare in the Park. She and Harvey continued their tradition of going to the ballet together each spring, but Donna was the one that took her to Nutcracker every year. They'd make a whole day of it - starting with lunch at the Plaza Hotel and shopping for Vivian and Harvey's Christmas presents before the show, and they'd end the day with dessert. They'd split a tiramisu so long as Amelia promised not to tell her dad she'd given her chocolate and coffee so late at night.

As she grew up, Vivian continued to be a walking contradiction. The girl who couldn't sit still for a 45 minute math class to save her life could spend hours in one position, nose deep in a book. When she first moved to the city, a young Donna would spend hours exploring the dozens of unique and aesthetically pleasing independent bookstores sprinkled across the city. Vivan loved the shops just as much as her mom and poured over every single title in the children's section until she found exactly what she wanted to read. They'd hole up in a coffee shop with heaping cups of hot chocolate and spend the afternoon reading - Donna always grabbing her own copy of whatever Vivian had picked out because if there was anything Vivian enjoyed more than reading, it was discussing her newest literary hero with her mom.

For their birthday each year, Donna took them shopping for two new outfits each - one for their fancy dinner with their parents and one for their party with friends and family. Despite the fact that money was no object for Harvey and Donna, they didn't want their daughters to grow up spoiled by material possessions, instead choosing to invest in education and experiences for their girls. Spending an entire day shopping with their mom felt luxurious for Vivian and Amelia, because it was something that was usually reserved for their birthday. They were born at 3:14 and 3:25am and every year, without fail, she'd walk into their room to wake them up and wish them a happy birthday at just that time. She'd climb into Amelia's bed, and Vivan would join them. They'd talk for a little bit and Donna would tell them her favorite things about them, one for each year they'd been alive. They'd fall asleep again and she'd hold them close to her - feeling thankful for her two wonderful daughters, but sad at how quickly time was passing, part of her always wishing that they'd stay little forever.

In Donna's world, Halloween began on October 1st and the celebrations lasted the entire month. She decorated for the season with garlands of leaves on the bannister and collections of little pumpkins on the tables and the family spent one Saturday of the month in the front yard carving the large pumpkins that would line the steps. Donna dressed Vivian and Amelia in matching strawberry costumes for several years in a row, until they were old enough to understand the holiday and demanded to be something else. They'd recently discovered _The Little Mermaid _and were absolutely obsessed with it, because Ariel had red hair like they did. The ever-persistent five year olds that they were, and with Donna's added encouragement, they were able to convince their dad to be the Prince Eric to their mom's Ariel - the two of them toddling behind as Sebastian and Flounder. While Harvey wasn't much for the costumes, he did enjoy taking them trick or treating around the neighborhood - seeing them excitedly scamper from one house to the next in whatever costume, usually matching, they'd dreamed up with Donna for that year. The first year they asked to go off on their own with their friends, Harvey was crushed, sad that his girls would rather hang out with their friends than him. Donna comforted him with his favorite sports films, but his entire night was made when Vivian and Amelia came home a bit earlier than planned, and gave him all of the Baby Ruth candy bars they'd collected, because they knew they were his favorite.

Donna got both of them drinking coffee when they were eleven, arguing that coffee was better for them than the sugary, caffeinated sodas people seemed to have no problem with children drinking. She and Harvey compromised though, and they were only allowed to have it on the weekends, because shuffling two overstimulated pre-teens out the door to school every morning was a challenge that neither were quite up for.

They were both incredibly smart - something that became clear early on when they were reading above their grade level in first and second grade, and causing distractions to other students when they quickly finished classwork and goofed off with each other as their classmates continued to work. Their intelligence was comparable, but they had their own strengths. Vivan had a memory that would one day rival Mike's, but she hated anything that involved straight memorization. She was great at math, but it bored her - the answer was either right or wrong, there was nothing to debate or discuss and because of that, she was absolutely uninterested in the subject. She much preferred subjects where there some element of memorization and understanding, but also required a bit of interpretation. She loved her history classes, because there were basic facts that were either right or wrong, but she could use different perspectives to craft a narrative that she found the most compelling. A talent that Harvey was quick to point out would likely make her an incredible lawyer one day.

Amelia was different in the fact that the more time she spent with the material, the more she enjoyed it. Math didn't come as naturally to her as it did to Vivian, but the subject hat set rules to follow, which she liked. She'd spend ages pouring over a single problem until she understood it completely, checking and rechecking her work to make sure it was perfect. She was willing to put in the work because she enjoyed the satisfaction that came with getting the correct answer. She was much more creative than Vivian, and loved her engish classes, writing especially. Despite being a voracious reader, Vivian hated the required reading that came with english class - much preferring to read whatever title she'd selected for herself that week. Amelia didn't mind though, often coming across books she'd never would have picked for herself if they hadn't been assigned.

Donna and Harvey made a conscious effort to coordinate their work schedules so that at least one of them could be at home for dinner with the girls when they were done with school and activities. Given how unpredictable their work could be though, it wasn't uncommon for Vivian and Amelia to spend time at the firm during the week. They quickly learned the dynamics of the workplace, and figured out who to go to for what. They knew that Gretchen always had snacks and candy tucked away in her desk drawers - surprises for her own grandchildren who often visited her at work - and she'd let them pick whatever they wanted in exchange for them helping her with a small task, usually arranging files on Louis' desk. Vivian and Amelia both became fast friends with Katrina and, despite the fact that Katrina always said she didn't like kids, she had a soft spot for the Paulsen Specter girls. She and Amelia would talk about what Amelia was working on in ballet class, sometimes showing her photos or videos of herself when she was younger. Katrina would explain the details of the cases she was working on in terms Vivian could understand, and would sometimes let her help sort and assemble documents. When she was eleven, she told her parents that Katrina was the best person that worked at the firm. When asked why, she said it was because she was pretty like mom and smart like dad - the best of both worlds.

They were each other's best friend, and could communicate without words. They had their own language of looks and expressions, and while it sometimes frustrated Harvey and Donna, they appreciated it. They understood the closeness that came with being able to communicate with someone without having to say anything, and despite the fact that the twins sometimes used it to gang up on their parents, they smiled any time they saw it in action.

They were as close as sisters could be, yet when they fought it was vicious; their teenage years punctuated with shouting voices and slamming doors. They knew each other better than anyone in the world, so they knew exactly where to stick the knife in, and how to twist it to make it hurt.

When this happened, they each knew who to go to pull the knife out and stop the bleeding. Vivian went to Donna because she needed someone to listen to her complain about whatever it was they'd been fighting about, knowing her mom would let her rant without interruption before telling her what she needed to hear. Amelia went to Harvey because she was the more sensitive of the two and despite knowing that Vivian's most pointed words were said without meaning in the heat of the moment, she needed her dad to compliment her and restore her confidence.

When they were fourteen, they both got suspended from school for two days for switching places to take an algebra test. Vivian took the test for both of them because she was better at math, and Amelia hadn't studied because of ballet rehearsals that'd run late. When Harvey found out, he was so angry he threatened to sue them both for fraud. Donna had to talk him off a ledge, but she was just as angry with them. The twins had pulled some stunts over the years, but this was by far the worst. A little part of both Donna and Harvey were impressed with their brashness and inventiveness, but that didn't stop them from dropping the hammer. Amelia and Vivian had seen their parents angry before, seen them united against a common foe, but they'd never been on the receiving end quite like that before, and they quickly decided it was something they never wanted to experience again.

They apparently forgot what it felt like to be on the receiving end of their parents' wrath, however, because two years later they threw a raucous after-prom party in their townhouse while Harvey and Donna were out of town. Twenty-five teenagers and 12 empty bottles of MaCallan later, the twins woke up the next morning to their first real hangovers. They herded their friends out of the house almost immediately and raced to clean up the glasses and empty bottles before their parents came home.

Harvey and Donna caught them just as they were picking up the last couple of items in the entryway, and seeing the scene in front of them, both immediately knew what had happened. Harvey was the angrier of the two, but as Donna pointed out to him, his anger was largely due to the fact that his precious McCallan had been fulleled like cheap beer and not given the respect it deserved. Donna, while disappointed, understood that what the twins had done was a natural part of growing up, and she was grateful that they'd done it in a familiar environment and they'd been relatively safe. Harvey reluctantly agreed with her, but not before getting it in writing that one day, they would reimburse him for the $23,000 in McCallan he'd lost.

In the days that followed, Donna learned that both Amelia and Vivian had lost their virginities that night. And while she couldn't help but smile at the fact that, even in the most intimate and personal of settings, her twins were connected, she saw that they were processing the change very differently. Amelia seemed comfortable in her decision since it'd happened with her boyfriend of six months and after assuring her mom that they'd been safe, she said that it was fun and she'd like to do it again. And so, a week later, Donna bought her a box of condoms and took her to the gynecologist for a birth control prescription.

Donna did the same for Vivian, but she could see she hadn't enjoyed the experience like her sister had. She'd slept with her date, who was a good friend and a frequent hookup, but they weren't dating. Donna asked her if he'd pressured her at all, but she explained that she kind of pressured herself. She knew that Amelia wanted to do it, and she figured it'd be better to get the first time over with someone she trusted but who was just okay, so that when she wanted it to happen with someone she really liked, it wouldn't be awkward.

Donna could see that she was comparing Amelia's fun experience to her own lackluster one, and did her best to assure her daughter that sometimes sex was just sex, and there was nothing wrong with that. She'd have different kinds of sex - sometimes it'd fun, sometimes it'd be bland or even bad, but then she'd find someone and it'd be earth shatteringly good. When she said that, Vivian could tell by the smile on her face that she was talking about Harvey, and while the thought of her parents having sex made her a little embarrassed, she smiled too. She and Amelia both admired their parents' relationship and the love between them that was so evident; the kind of love they had was something she wanted for herself one day.

Following her conversations with Amelia and Vivian, Donna was both sad and relieved. Sad that her little girls were growing up, but relieved that one of her biggest parenting fears had not been realized. Since they were young, Donna had been worried that there would be certain things they wouldn't feel comfortable talking about her with - that they'd go to someone else with their problems, or ignore them all together. But, since they'd both been open and honest with her, she knew she'd done something right, and that made her happy. She had amazing and unique relationships with both her girls and she was so proud of that.

At thirteen, Amelia decided that she wanted to dance professionally and she auditioned for the School of American Ballet. Donna would always joke that when they found out she'd been accepted, she wasn't sure who was more excited; Amelia or Louis. She started boarding at the school during the week, which Vivian hated, saying she wasn't cut out to be an only child. Amelia loved it though, the structure and rigor of the school and training was perfectly suited for her developing Type A personality that would one day rival Donna's.

When Amelia was fifteen, she sprained her ankle during a rehearsal. What started out as a routine and relatively minor injury turned into a six month complication when a second x-ray showed bruising on the bone. She was diligent about her physical therapy because she knew that pushing herself too far before she was ready would only make it worse and end her career before it even began. Donna could tell that the slow progress was frustrating her though, and she came home one weekend in tears because the rest of her class had been called up to dance a scene in Nutcracker with the professional company, but she wasn't able to because she wasn't fully healed. Amelia collapsed into her mom's open arms and she rubbed her back and smoothed her hair as she cried and mumbled about how she might as well quit because she was already behind.

Once she'd calmed down a bit, Donna sat her down on the couch in the family room, draping a fluffy blanket across her lap and giving her her childhood beverage of choice - hot chocolate with whipped cream and extra peppermints. Donna reminded Amelia how much she _loved _to dance, and how excited she'd been when she'd been accepted to the school. She pulled out her phone and showed Amelia a photo from her first ballet recital from when she was five. She admitted that she'd teared up when she saw her tiny body flitting around the stage in her tutu and butterfly wings she'd insisted on wearing around the house nonstop the days before the recital. It was the happiest she'd ever seen her, and that joy was something that hadn't dissipated in all the years since. Donna told her that if she wanted to quit, it was her decision, but if there was anything left inside her that had dreams of dancing professionally, even if it was the smallest spark in the back of her mind, she should push through the bad times to get to the good ones.

Vivian came out the top of their year all four years of high school and her college search was focused only on the Ivy Leagues. When she got acceptance letters from Yale and Columbia, her parents took them out to Del Posto to celebrate. Over the years, the restaurant became not only a place where they celebrated their personal relationship milestones, but the milestones of their children as well. They'd come to the restaurant several months earlier to celebrate Amelia becoming an apprentice with the New York City Ballet.

Harvey and Donna were incredibly proud of her, and relieved that the schools had been willing to overlook her brief suspension several years prior and grant her admission. Vivian though, was disappointed she hadn't been accepted to Harvard as well, and had been nervous that her dad would be upset with her. He reassured her that he wasn't and told her that he'd always been nothing put proud of her - of her mind, of the way she challenged him, and of the way she very nearly beat Mike in logic games. And, he reminded her, she could always go to Harvard for law school.

In the end, Vivian chose Columbia and Donna was relieved. She'd never let her own opinion sway her children's decisions, but she was happy that both her daughters would still be close. Even though they wouldn't be living at home, she took comfort in the fact that they'd still be in the same city. She understood that they were young adults ready to forge their own paths, but in her eyes they were still her little girls, and Donna wasn't quite ready to push them all the way out of the nest yet. Even though Harvey outwardly complained that they'd still be hanging around and would use their parents for free laundry services, he was happy to have them close to home too.

To celebrate their graduation and eighteenth birthdays, the family took a two week trip to Europe, with Amelia and Vivian each getting to choose the location for one week. Amelia chose London for the ballet and the theatre, and Vivian chose Italy for the history and shopping. Ahead of their week in London, Amelia and Donna devised an elaborate schedule that would maximize their time and allow them to see as many shows in as many locations as possible. Amelia was even able to work her connections and spent a day taking classes with the Royal Ballet. Harvey and Vivian dragged their feet behind the other two through days filled with shows on the West End, the Royal Opera House, Royal Albert Hall, and Shakespeare's Globe. They made it through most of the week with minimal complaining before Donna finally relieved them and sent them off on their own, tickets to a Chelsea game in hand.

While in London, they visited Harry Potter studios, and it was Amelia's turn to drag her feet. She'd enjoyed the books and movies as much as the next person, but her feelings for them came nowhere close to Vivian's love. When they were little, Harvey and Donna had taken turns reading them chapters of the books each night before bed, and Vivian was immediately enthralled with the whole world. Amelia liked them because her sister liked them, and it was something they could share, but the books were something that'd brought Vivian closer to both her parents.

During one of their no work weekly dinners early in their relationship, Donna and Harvey learned that they'd both started reading the Harry Potter series while college, and were still huge fans. Harvey even admitted that he'd used Marcus' kids as an excuse to get the Lego sets. Donna mentioned that she'd always imagined reading the books to her kids and, when Amelia and Vivian were old enough, they did just that. Amelia couldn't hide her laughter watching her parents and Vivian explore every inch of the film studio like three wide-eyed children. Seeing how much the experience meant to them, she even induled them in several family photos.

In Italy, the family split their time between Milan and Rome. In Milan, Donna, Amelia, and Vivian spent several days exploring every inch of the city's designer stores and doing more than a little bit of damage to Harvey's credit cards. While the twins were growing up, Donna had resisted the temptation to outfit them in the highest end designers, not wanting to spend large amounts of money on clothes they'd quickly outgrow. She did treat them sometimes, and some of her favorite memories were taking them shopping for dresses for special occasions like Louis' son's Bar Mitzvah, Samantha's wedding, Mike and Rachel's anniversary party, and their proms. Now that they were eighteen and pretty much done growing though, all restraint was gone and the three of them shopped to their hearts' content.

Harvey trailed behind them very unenthusiastically for the first day, whisterping to Donna that he was far more interested in what she'd be wearing _under _the dresses she was trying on than the dresses themselves. He was dismissed ahead of their second day, the twins telling him that his lack of enthusiasm was killing the mood. While his girls shopped, he found a luxury car club and spent a couple of days exploring the city and surrounding areas behind the wheel of Italy's best cars.

From Milan, they took a train to Rome, where they spent the rest of the week. They filled their days touring the city's iconic sites - the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, and more, with Vivian rattling off additional facts and conspiracy theories about each location. Each night, they ate at a different restaurant and Donna and Amelia continued their quest begun in Milan to find the best wine/pizza pairing in all of Italy.

On their last night in Rome, the twins surprised their parents with a date night, just the two of them. They'd enlisted Rachel to help them find a delicious and sophisticated restaurant in the city, and told them that the night was their way of thanking them for everything they'd done for them over the past eighteen years - for the opportunities they'd been given and the experiences they'd had, but most importantly for a happy childhood spent in a home with parents who loved them, and each other, unconditionally and without reservation.

Their gesture left Donna speechless and a little teary eyed, and while Harvey joked that he hoped the night out wasn't an elaborate ruse so the twins could sneak out with Italian boys, he was incredibly touched too. With a promise that their plans for the night involved gelato and a movie in bed, Vivian and Amelia ushered their parents out the door for a well deserved night on the town, Vivian teasing them that they'd be asleep before they got back incase they wanted to extend their night with some _extracurricular _activities.

On their way to the restaurant, Harvey and Donna half joked to keep the night free of talk of both work and their children like they tried to do on their weekly date nights at home but halfway through their first course they realized they couldn't do it. They both really were verklempt by the gesture from their children, but Harvey admitted that he wasn't all that surprised since both girls had inherited Donna's incredible sense of generosity. They spent the rest of the meal reminiscing on the trials and tribulations that came with raising two spirited and passionate girls. Harvey recalled teaching the girls how to ride bikes on the street outside his mom's house in Boston and Vivian getting so frustrated that Amelia was taking to it quicker than she was that she pushed her over on her little bike. Donna laughed as she reminded Harvey of the time Vivian lost her first two teeth in the same day and Amelia was so jealous that she stole one of them from under her pillow and placed it under her own, hoping to also get something from the tooth fairy.

It was something they often thought, but seldom vocalized, but Harvey and Donna really did see the best of the other in both of their children. In Vivian, Donna saw Harvey's analytical mind, his passionate energy, and his deep commitment to those closest to him. In Amelia, she saw his loyalty, his desire to do the right thing, and his persistence and tenacity. Harvey saw Donna's softness and empathy in Amelia - she was so like her mom in the way that she could read people and tell them exactly what they needed to hear. Vivian shared Donna's confidence and charisma, and could leave people hanging on her every word with little effort. They'd continue to find similarities as the twins got older, and every time they did, they'd fall more in love with the person by their side who'd helped raise them.

Deciding to become parents was the best decision Harvey and Donna had ever made. If someone had told them all those years ago when she'd propositioned him in a bar, that one day they'd be in Rome sipping wine during a dinner planned for them by their daughters, they'd never have believed them. But there they were, and they both knew they wouldn't trade anything in the world for the life they'd created together.

Vivian began her freshman year at Columbia that fall, while Amelia took a year off from school to adjust to life as a professional dancer. She'd received her Corps de Ballet contract shortly after they'd returned from Europe and officially became a member of the New York City Ballet - an occasion that promoted another family dinner at Del Posto. Vivian lived on campus, but came home frequently. She and Harvey often went boxing together on Saturday mornings, followed by brunch - and free laundry services - at home with both her parents.

As a first-year Corps member, Amelia had to dance every single Nutcracker performance of the season, which meant that she had little time to celebrate the holidays with her family. At the December 23rd show, Amelia was surprised to see her entire family in the audience - not just her parents and Vivian, but everyone. Harvey's mom and Bobby, Donna's parents, Marcus and his family, Mike, Rachel, Louis, Shelia, and their kids, and even Katrina. After the performance they all gathered back at Harvey and Donna's to celebrate Christmas a day early and Hanukkah a few days late. In the years that followed, Nutcracker on December 23 and a pre-Christmas celebration became a tradition, one that would last for the family long past Amelia's days with the company.

Vivian spent her summers working at the firm in various capacities. Her first summer, she filled in for Donna's assistant, Elaine, who was on maternity leave. Initially both Vivian and Donna had been wary of the idea, but they ended up working together better than they'd both expected. Vivian was so much like her father when it came to work that Donna joked it was like having a mini Harvey as her secretary. Vivian had spent most of her life knowing she wanted to go to law school, but it was that second summer spent at the firm spent shadowing one of the paralegals that worked under Katrina that really cemented it for her. Growing up, she'd always admired Katrina - and she'd never admit it to her dad, but it was more Katrina than him that made her want to be a lawyer in the first place. Seeing Katrina in action though, she realized what she wanted to be - an intelligent, confident professional who knew her worth and didn't let people push her around.

Amelia started taking online classes at NYU because, as much as she was enjoying her professional career, she knew that ballet wouldn't be forever, and her parents were adamant that she had something to fall back on. She wasn't sure exactly what she wanted to do, but she remembered that she'd always enjoyed her english and writing classes in high school, so she enrolled as a creative writing major.

The summer before her senior year at Columbia, Vivian began studying for the LSATs and enlisted the help of Louis' son Andrew, who'd just finished his first year of law school, also at Columbia. Vivian had known Andrew her entire life, because their parents were such good friends, but they'd hardly ever spent time together outside of situations that brought their families together. Andrew was working as a summer associate at the firm, so they spent their lunch breaks and evenings studying, and getting to know one another outside the confines of their parents' social events.

After a couple of years with the Company, Amelia was asked to be a teachers' assistant for one of the youngest classes at the school, and she was surprised at how much she enjoyed it. She started off teaching one class a week, but that soon grew to two, then three, and before she knew it - she was a full fledged instructor. She was still dancing with the Company and loving it, she'd even been promoted to Soloist and was getting to dance some of the rolls she'd dreamed of since she was a little girl. As time went on, though, she started to realize that her favorite moments of the day weren't those spent in her Company classes, but rather those spent teaching six-year-olds how to plié.

Vivian enrolled at Harvard Law, just like she promised her seventeen year old self she would. She'd been accepted at both Harvard and Columbia, and even though he told her he didn't care which school she picked - that she should choose the school best for her - Harvey was absolutely over the moon when she told him she'd be going to Harvard. He whisked her up to Boston and spent an entire weekend showing her around the school, pointing out all his favorite spots, and telling her story after story about his time as a student. It was a simple weekend, but it'd always be one of Vivian's favorite memories of time spent with her father.

As a final project for one of her last classes at NYU, Amelia wrote a human interest story about her parents - about their love story, and their reign as COO and name partner at one of the city's top law firms. Harvey would periodically take each of the girls out for lunch or dinner when he got the sense that it was a particularly stressful time for them at school or, in Amelia's case, at work. Once, Harvey took Amelia for dinner and drinks at the bar where he'd first met Donna and was so overcome with the memories of the place that he told her the whole story. It was that conversation that sparked the idea for her story and she poured her heart and soul into the piece, and had planned on getting it bound and giving it to them as an anniversary present. The surprise was spoiled, however, when she found out it would be published. Her professor had shared it with a colleague who worked at _The New Yorker_ in passing; the colleague loved it and contacted Amelia immediately, asking to publish it in an upcoming issue.

Vivian teased her sister and said that only she would be upset about something like being published in _The New Yorker _ruining a surprise she'd been planning for months. Amelia subjected herself to the jokes but reminded Vivian how hard it was to genuinely surprise their mom. Amelia's piece ran as part of a series on couples who'd met at work and had achieved success together, and all those that were featured were honored at an event at the publication's headquarters in New York. Amelia hadn't been able to surprise her mom with the actual story, but she was surprised that part of the event involved Amelia reading part of her piece out loud and that - hearing heartfelt words about her marriage that her daughter clearly poured her soul into writing - caught her off guard and reduced her to tears.

Before her final year at Harvard, Vivain worked at the firm as a summer associate. Andrew Litt joined the firm full time that summer, after graduating from Columbia and passing the Bar. Since their time studying for her LSATs together, they'd only grown closer. They saw each other when their parents brought their families together of course, but as the years went on, they spent more and more time together, just the two of them. One afternoon, a couple weeks before Vivian was set to go back to Harvard, a paralegal came into Donna's office, asking her to come unlock the file room. When she unlocked the door, unsuspecting paralegal behind her, she found her daughter sitting on top of one of the tables, shirt unbuttoned and skirt pushed up around her waist, Andrew standing between her legs, looking equally disheveled.

Donna didn't say anything, but gave them both a pointed look instructing them to reassemble themselves and get back to work. Vivian sheepishly followed him out of the file room, but not before turning to her mom and whispering that she'd been right, sometimes it _was_ earth shattering. Her daughter's comment made her crack a smile, which Vivian caught, but the slight tap on her butt as she walked away let her know that their conversation was far from over.

Excited by the feedback she'd gotten from her _New Yorker _story, Amelia started to write more and more. She dabbled in fiction and short stories, but kept coming back to human interest pieces. She wrote a series of stories about members of the New York City Ballet, highlighting their lives both on and off the stage and the stories were eventually published in a bind up and sold by the Company to promote its dancers. Through all of this writing though, she kept coming back to that story she'd written about her parents, adding bits and pieces here and there as things came to mind.

Vivian graduated from law school with honors and spent an entire summer studying for the Bar. She'd always been anxious when it came to taking tests and magnitude of the Bar really got to her. In a moment of particular panic she joked that she'd just have Mike take the test for her - a joke that Harvey did not find funny at all. He knew, though, that boxing was her go-to stress reliever and made a point to take her into the ring whenever he saw the pressure getting too much. Donna told him he was getting too old to be fighting like that, but he countered saying he didn't hear any complaints about the effect his increased physical activity was having on his physique.

Andrew also helped her study for the exam, having just taken it two years prior, and they often spent weekends with study materials covering the surface of the dining room table in her parents' townhouse. Donna had never mentioned her run in with the couple in the file room to Harvey, but he found out for himself soon after - coming home from a particularly late client meeting one night to find them kissing on his doorstep. He'd reacted better to the pairing better than Vivian and, admittedly Donna, had anticipated. He respected Andrew and knew that he'd do right by his daughter and he only rolled his eyes a little bit when days later, Louis came bounding into his office celebrating the fact that they might be in-laws one day.

After several years of random excerpts, drafting, and rewriting, Amelia finally turned her _New Yorker _piece into a full-fledged book. She expanded her original work about her parents to include chapters about her and Vivian, growing up as a twin, working under the tutelage of some of the best dance instructors in the world, and the various lessons she learned from her parents and their friends. Titling the book had been easy - as soon as she figured out that she could turn the article into a book she knew it'd be called _Three Redheads, Two Lawyers. _The phrase was a running joke in her family, her dad often complaining that the 'redheads' were ganging up on him when she, Vivian, and her mom convinced him to do something. She and her mom had always rolled their eyes when he told them they'd never win an argument with a lawyer, because it wasn't true. But when Vivian got her JD and joined his ranks, they found themselves victorious less often.

Immediately following the release of her book, Amelia's publicist whisked her off on a three month book tour across the country. She'd been reluctant to agree to such a trip because of all the work she'd have to miss, but it turned out that the trip could not have come at a better time. The bone bruise she'd gotten years before had started to flare up and the long hours were starting to take a toll on her body. Despite the long days, she enjoyed her time traveling around the country far more than she expected to, even agreeing to extend the tour to two additional cities at the request of her publisher. The tour put a strain on her already rocky relationship and she and Matt - an architect who she'd met in a coffee shop several years prior as she was working on the book - ended things over the phone the night she called him to let him know she'd be gone for a bit longer than scheduled. Alone in her hotel room in Dallas, she nursed a glass of scotch and realized the sadness she felt wasn't because of her relationship that'd just ended, but because she wasn't as upset as she felt like she should have been about it.

The day after Amelia returned home, a family dinner at Del Posto was scheduled to celebrate Vivian, who'd just been promoted to junior partner at the firm. Amelia arrived at that dinner in near tears though, as earlier in the day she had a doctor's appointment where she'd learned that the bone bruise on her foot had turned into a series of hairline fractured and she'd probably need several surgeries to fix it. She put on a brave face for dinner, because she knew how much the promotion meant to Vivian, but Donna immediately sensed that something was off. She pulled her aside as soon as Vivian and Andrew - who by that point was as good as family - left and Amelia immediately collapsed into her mother's arms.

What followed was several months of doctor's appointments and consultations where Amelia weighed the pros and cons of her next steps. What she learned was that if she didn't have the surgeries, she definitely wouldn't be able to dance again, but having them didn't guarantee that she would be able to. The surgery would fix the existing fractures, but couldn't prevent future ones - a strong possibility given the nature of the injury and the physical toll that dancing took on her body. Eventually, Amelia decided that the risk just wasn't worth it and retired as a professional dancer, hanging up her pointe shoes for good after one final Nutcracker season.

Despite the drastic change, Amelia initially settled into her new life. She moved across town into a new apartment, which Donna and Rachel helped her decorate, picked up additional classes to teach, and started drafting ideas for her second book. She even went on a couple blind dates, set up for her by Michelle - Mike and Rachel's younger daughter and one of Amelia's closest friends. Just as Amelia was falling into stride with all the changes she'd just undergone, Vivian and Andrew got engaged, which devastated her. Not because she wasn't happy for her sister - she was over the moon - but because her sister's life was falling into place just as everything seemed to be going wrong for her.

Donna threw the couple an engagement party in their townhouse with the help of a very enthusiastic Louis. Andrew had proposed on a weekend trip to the wineries near the Finger Lakes in Upstate, NY and the ring was custom made to include stones from the engagement rings of their maternal grandmothers, who'd both recently passed. When he'd shown Harvey and Donna the ring before their trip they were impressed - Andrew really had inherited his father's penchant for romantic gestures. The engagement party was small and included just close friends and family, but was a perfect blend of the couple. At the party, talk quickly turned to plans for the wedding and, despite the fact that Andrew had been raised in both of his parents' faiths, there were some Jewish traditions he and Louis were eager to include in the wedding. Vivian, Harvey, and Donna were more than happy to oblige, but Harvey said he drew the line at being hoisted up in the air on a chair. Donna rolled her eyes and later assured Andrew that if he wanted to dance the Horah at his wedding, Harvey's ass would be in that chair.

After all the guests had left, Amelia hung back to help her mom clean up and Donna could tell that something was off with her. Sensing her daughter's need for a girls' night, she kicked Harvey out of the house and poured the two of them each a glass of wine. Slumped into her mother's side on the couch, Amelia spilled out all the emotions she'd been keeping inside her since Vivian had gotten engaged. She knew that her feelings of loss and misdirection were natural during a time of change, but seeing all the things that Vivian had - fiancé, a stable career - that she didn't and had just lost, had her feeling especially empty. Donna listened as her daughter spoke, smoothing her hair with her palm like she did when she was little and woke up scared from a bad dream. She knew it was futile to tell her not to compare herself to her sister - it came with the territory of being a twin, and was something that both she and Vivian had struggled with at times in their lives. Instead, she encouraged her to focus on and invest in all the good things she had in her life - she told her to focus on her friendships, her teaching and her students, and her writing. Amelia fell asleep in her parents' bed that night, cuddled against her mom's side as if she was a little girl again. There was a sense of comfort that came with it and she knew, just like she did when she was younger, that she'd wake up feeling better and that the world would look a little less scary in the morning.

For several years after they'd gotten married, Vivian and Andrew tried to have a baby, but to no avail. It was at Donna's gentle insistence that they both schedule some doctor's appointments, and after several tests Vivian learned that she'd be unable to carry a child. The news was delivered to her over the phone while she was in her office one day, and Harvey just happened to be walking past. He saw her blank expression and immediately knew that something was wrong. She broke down when she saw him entering her office and detailed the conversation she'd just had. Harvey's heart broke for her because she knew how much she and Andrew wanted to be parents. He folded her into his arms and let her cry until there was nothing left. After awhile, he sat her down on the couch and told her that it wasn't over for her if she didn't want it to be. He explained that if he'd learned anything in the decades he'd spent at the firm it was that family was more than blood, it was the people you choose to surround yourself with. He assured her that if she and Andrew still wanted to be parents, there were ways to make it happen.

Amelia had taken her mother's words to heart and dove headfirst into the classes she was teaching at the School of American Ballet. It seemed that every year she added another class to her repertoire until she was promoted to assistant director of the school. Ballet would always be her first love and she did miss performing from time to time, but with every class she taught she was more sure that the studio, rather than the stage, was where she was meant to end up.

Inspired by her father's words, Vivian and Andrew pursued adoption and eventually adopted a beautiful baby girl, who they named Rachel. Harvey and Donna were besotted with their granddaughter and spoiled her rotten, which made Vivian roll her eyes, but Donna reminded her that it was a grandmother's job to give their grandchildren everything their parents wouldn't allow. Donna found it extremely amusing when little tufts of red hair started to appear on her head, teasing Harvey that he'd never be able to escape the redheads. As she grew, Harvey tried his best to get her into baseball, but failed just as much as he did with his own children. Rachel was far more interested in the ballet classes taught by her Aunt Amelia, to Louis' absolute delight.

Somewhere along the line, Samantha and Alex had left the firm to start their own. They left on good terms and often worked cases alongside their old colleagues. Following their departure, Katrina had been promoted to name partner and the name that Vivian and Amelia most associated with their parents', and later Vivian's, workplace was Specter Litt Bennett. After Vivian and Andrew got married, he joked that he got her a law firm as a wedding present. She'd immediately counter and say that it'd always been a little bit hers because of the 'Specter' on the wall, and tacking on 'Litt' at the end of her name made it even more so. Several years after she became a senior partner, it was decided that Vivian had earned the title of name partner, however the partners wondered how the firm's name would change, considering that _both _of her last names were already on the wall. She pointed out that they weren't and said that if anything was to be added to the wall it'd be Paulsen. Vivian was fine with tacking it on the end and creating the new 'Specter Litt Bennett Paulsen', but the partners quickly countered and said if it was going anywhere, it was going first because the woman who first bore that name had been the heart and soul of the firm for as long as anyone could remember.

Donna had finally retired a few years prior, and Vivian hadn't told her what'd been decided with the firm's name, instead wanting her mom to see it for herself. She invited her up to her office to meet her before a scheduled lunch date and met her at the elevators. Donna immediately noticed the change to the wall and wordlessly pulled her daughter in for a hug, overwhelmed by the gesture. It was the first time Vivian had been able to leave her mom truly speechless, and the look of pure surprise on her face was something she'd remember for the rest of her life.

When Donna got home later that day, she asked Harvey if he'd known about Vivian's surprise. He did and she was impressed that both he and Vivian had been able to keep their mouths shut about it as long as they had. She assumed it'd been partly his idea, but he assured her that is was all their daughter, which left her speechless once again. He poured her a glass of wine and they settled on the couch, her leaning against his chest and his arm draped over her side, his fingers tracing mindless patterns across her forearm. She recounted the highlight of her lunch with Vivian, telling him the latest about little Rachel's passionate campaign for a younger sibling, and the fact that Vivian and Andrew were starting to consider another adoption. He'd gotten lunch with Amelia that day, and he updated her on the progress she was making in her latest book. As he spoke, she turned to face him, which made him pause. She pressed her lips to his and brought her hand to cup his cheek, fingers lingering there as she pulled back.

It wasn't so much an argument as it was a spirited discussion, but it was one they themselves having as they - and their children - grew older. They were both adamant in the fact that the other was the better parent. As their children grew, Donna was continually surprised by how thoughtful he was with them, and the lengths he'd go to help them achieve a goal, or simply to see them smile. Harvey hated to see them sad or hurting, but he was healed right alongside of them every time he watched Donna comfort them and build them up stronger in the way only she could. The one thing that they could agree on was the fact that their daughters were remarkable women and, of all the things they'd done in their long lives, raising them and watching them flourish was their proudest achievement.

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**As always, thanks for reading and please leave a review if you feel so inclined :) A big thanks again to Sarah (catsballeths) for all her help and brainstorming sessions that went into this**


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